Oral hygiene KAP assessment and DMFT scoring among children aged 11-12 years in an urban school of Karachi.

OBJECTIVE To assess the oral hygiene knowledge, attitude and practices among school children and evaluate their DMFT (Decayed/Missing/Filled Teeth) scores. STUDY DESIGN Cross-sectional study. PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY A private school of Karachi from March to April 2008. METHODOLOGY Convenient sample comprising 300 students of grade 6 within the age group of 11-12 years was selected. A knowledge, attitude and practices survey questionnaire based on quantitative indicators was filled by the students. Clinical examination was done for DMFT. Data analysis was done by using SPSS version 11. Associations were assessed using chi-square test and a p-value of < 0.001 was considered significant. RESULTS There were 160 males and 140 females in the target group. The mean DMFT was found to be 1.27. The children had satisfactory knowledge of oral health's effect on general health and the problems associated with poor dental hygiene. However, 50.3% children did not have positive attitude towards importance of a dentist's role in maintaining their dental health. Only a few students (11.3%) had familiarity with dental floss. A statistically significant association was found between frequency of brushing and children's knowledge of the problems related to irregular tooth brushing (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION The attitude of school children towards dental health and dental service utilization is determined by certain social and cultural factors. The mean DMFT of 1.27 showed that there must have been some poor oral practices that are contributing towards a higher mean.